CBA Joins RBA and Industry Leaders in Project Acacia to Explore Tokenised Asset Markets
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has joined the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) in a new initiative aimed at advancing Australia’s domestic wholesale tokenised asset markets. The collaboration, part of the RBA’s Project Acacia, focuses on enhancing the efficiency, liquidity, and risk management of the $350 billion repurchase agreement (repo) market.
The RBA has selected CBA, J.P. Morgan, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), and HQLAX—alongside its Trusted Third Party, Deutsche Börse Group—to evaluate how digital currencies and digital collateral records could transform operations in this vital area of the financial system.
The pilot will leverage cutting-edge platforms including:
- J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys Digital Assets, a multi-asset tokenisation platform
- CBA’s Digital Assets Platform
- HQLAX’s collateral mobility solution
- The local market expertise of ASX
Repos play a critical role in Australia’s financial ecosystem by:
- Providing essential short-term funding for banks and financial institutions
- Enabling the RBA to implement monetary policy
- Supporting liquidity management across the financial system
- Ensuring the smooth operation of government bond markets
Sophie Gilder, CBA’s Managing Director of Blockchain and Digital Assets, emphasized the strategic importance of the project:
We’re very pleased to bring together globally recognised digital asset leaders and critical financial market infrastructure providers to explore how digital currencies and tokenisation can ensure the global competitiveness of Australia’s financial markets.”The repo market, with its central role in liquidity management and monetary policy, is a strong starting point for this kind of innovation.”
Bianca Bates, Head of J.P. Morgan Payments for Australia and New Zealand, added:
We are pleased to join CBA, ASX, and HQLAX in exploring how Kinexys, J.P. Morgan’s industry-leading blockchain platform, can help increase the efficiency of Australia’s financial markets.”
As one of the first bank-led blockchain platforms, Kinexys has supported industry breakthroughs ranging from programmable payments to instant settlement across multiple currencies. Since its inception, the platform has processed over USD $2 trillion in transactions.”
Project Acacia marks a significant step in Australia’s journey toward modernising its financial market infrastructure and exploring the future role of digital assets in regulated financial systems.
